On Monday, the Japanese government asked Facebook to be more proactive and transparent about protecting its users' data. Reuters learned of the request via a statement from Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission.

Specifically, Japanese authorities want Facebook to increase monitoring of third party apps, tell users when there's been any issue, and keep the government abreast of any changes to its security infrastructure.

The letter is reportedly just a request. There is nothing legally binding or carrying any penalties within it.

In light of Facebook's very bad year, Japan is just the latest country to tell the company to do better. The United States, Canada, and the European Union have all held hearings and been in communication with the company. Papua New Guinea even went as far as to ban Facebook in the country for one month, to assess the benefits vs. risks for citizens.

Facebook was certainly more forthcoming about the recent breach than it was about Cambridge Analytica; it's clearly trying to do better on that watchword of the tech community, "transparency."

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